Alzheimer’s is now the third leading cause of death in the United States, right behind heart disease and cancer. While prevalence is rapidly increasing, the good news is you actually have a great deal of control over this devastating disease.

Alzheimer’s costs the United States over $220 billion annually and a trillion-dollar globally. It strikes about 15 percent of the population.” Projections estimate Alzheimer’s will affect about half of the senior population in the next generation. With respect to genetics and Alzheimer’s, about 95 percent of cases of Alzheimer’s are not so-called “familial.

Dr. Dale Bredesen, MD identified more than four dozen variables that can have a significant influence on Alzheimer’s, but at the heart of it all is mitochondrial dysfunction. While Alzheimer’s subtype classifications have not become widely accepted, Dr. Bredesen published two papers on Alzheimer’s subtypes, based on metabolic profiling.4 These include:

1.Type 1, inflammatory (“hot”) Alzheimer’s: Patients present predominantly inflammatory symptoms. They have high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, interleukin 6 and tumor necrosis factor alpha, reflecting a chronic inflammatory state. When the NF-ĸB part of inflammation is activated, it also alters gene transcription. Two of the genes turned “on” are beta-secretase and gamma-secretase, the latter of which cleaves APP, thereby promoting synaptoclastic processes.

2.Type 1.5, glycotoxic (sugar-toxic, “sweet”), a mixed subtype: This is an in-between subtype that involves both inflammation and atrophy processes, due to insulin resistance and glucose-induced inflammation.

3.Type 2, atrophic or “cold” Alzheimer’s: This is classified as patients presenting an atrophic response. While a completely different mechanism from inflammation, it produces the same end result — it pushes APP in the direction of creating amyloid plaques and Alzheimer’s cell signaling.

When you withdraw nerve growth factor, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), estradiol, testosterone or vitamin D — any compound that provides atrophic support — your brain responds by blocking synaptogenesis. As a result, your ability to retain and learn new things is reduced.

4.Type 3, toxic (“vile”) Alzheimer’s: These are patients with toxic exposures. Many will have chronic inflammatory response syndrome (CIRS) markers, even though most do not fit the official criteria for CIRS. “They act like CIRS patients (in their labs, not necessarily symptoms) with dementia,” Bredesen explains.

Dr. Bredesen identified more than four dozen variables that can have a significant influence on Alzheimer’s, but at the heart of it all is mitochondrial dysfunction. Mitochondria are also where a majority of free radicals are generated, so when your lifestyle choices produce higher amounts of free radicals, dysfunctions in mitochondria are to be expected. The accumulation of mutations in mitochondrial DNA are also a primary driver of age-related decline.

If you are ApoE4 Positive, fasting Is strongly indicated to avoid Alzheimer’s.While ReCODE looks at all of the contributing factors, restoring mitochondrial function is a cornerstone of successful Alzheimer’s treatment. One of the most powerful ways to optimize mitochondrial function is pulsed or cyclical ketosis, which is the main focus of the book, “Fat for Fuel.”

The ReCODE protocol evaluates 150 different variables, including biochemistry, genetics and historical imaging, to determine which factors are most likely driving the disease. You can get more details on these variables by reading Dr. Bredesen’s book, “The End of Alzheimer’s.”

Dr. Bredesen recommends mild ketosis and a mostly plant-based diet to all his patients. The specific diet recommended in his protocol is called KetoFlex 12/3, which involves a daily fasting period of 12 hours. For ApoE4-positive patients, 14 to 16 hours of fasting instead of the minimum 12 is recommended. One of the most powerful ways to optimize mitochondrial function is pulsed or cyclical ketosis, which is the main focus of his book, “Fat for Fuel.”

He also recommends exercise, to increase BDNF; stress reduction; optimizing your sleep, which is critical for cognitive function, and nutritional support. Important nutrients include animal-based omega-3, magnesium, vitamin D and fiber. All of these nutrients need to be optimized.

He’s also following Michael Hamblin’s work on photobiomodulation, which uses near-infrared light and red light between 660 and 830 nanometers for the treatment of Alzheimer’s. Dr. Lew Lim has developed a device called the Vielight, which employs light emitting diodes at these frequencies. Alzheimer’s patients using the device for 20 minutes a day report remarkably positive results.

Dr. Bredesen recommends, “We recommend that everybody over the age of 45 get what we call a “cognoscopy,” to look at genetics and these different things in your blood to get an appropriate program for prevention. If you have already started to be symptomatic, get on an appropriate program for reversal, the earlier, the better.”

Dr. Bredesen concludes mitochondrial dysfunction is it the heart of Alzheimer’s. Mitochondria are also where a majority of free radicals are generated, so when your lifestyle choices produce higher amounts of free radicals, dysfunctions in mitochondria are to be expected. The accumulation of mutations in mitochondrial DNA are also a primary driver of age-related decline.

What causes free radicals to proliferate? Basically, the typical “Western lifestyle” — with its processed foods, absence of healthy whole foods, reliance on medications and antibiotics, common use of alcohol or drugs, environmental pollutants, and high stress levels. Free radicals are generated due to oxidation and when toxins are broken down in the body. The liver produces free radicals as it breaks down compounds and removes them.

A poor diet that includes foods like unhealthy fats, too much sugar, pesticides, herbicides or synthetic additives. Many processed and refined foods contain oxidized fats that add free radicals to the body. Excessive amounts of sugar and sweeteners are other sources of free radical growth that contribute to aging, weight gain and inflammation.

The National Institute on Aging, a part of the National Institutes of Health, has developed a scoring system to measure the amounts of antioxidants in foods. The score given to a particular food is known as its ORAC score. ORAC stands for “Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity.”

Here are just a few foods that have very high ORAC scores:

Brightly colored fruits and vegetables — Orange foods like carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkin and squash, or cantaloupe contain carotenoids that are beneficial for your skin and eyes. These antioxidant foods help reduce sunburn and wrinkles while protecting your vision. According to the International Dermal Institute, oxygen free radicals are implicated in the overall aging process and are responsible for photoaging, cancer and inflammation in the skin. (6) Similarly to orange veggies, citrus fruits contain a compound called quercetin. Spinach and other leafy greens like kale are high in lutein, and tomatoes and red peppers contain lycopene, all of which have anti-aging effects.

Berries, grapes and red wine — These deeply hued fruits are some of the highest in antioxidants, such as resveratrol. A study in the Journal of Agricultural & Food Chemistry found berries an easy winner in the amount of antioxidants for the price, especially when you buy the organic kinds frozen. (7) As an added bonus, berries also tend to be lower in sugar than other fruits and contain lots of fiber.

Green and white tea— White and green teas are very minimally processed and contain less caffeine than coffee (or even other varieties of tea). They also contain a very high concentration of antioxidants called polyphenols that have been shown to have cancer-fighting properties. (8)

Cocoa —A study from Seoul National University found that cocoa has a higher antioxidant content that green tea, black tea and even red wine. (9) But you want to make sure the cocoa or dark chocolate you eat is very minimally processed, such as the kinds that are a high percentage of cocoa (more than 65 percent or so) and labeled raw and organic.

Herbs and spices— These include things like cinnamon, oregano, ginger, turmeric and rosemary. Additionally, essential oils made from the same plants can also be a great source of antioxidant, anti-inflammatory compounds.

While eating more antioxidant foods is a big step in the right direction, you also benefit from limiting intake of pesticide- and herbicide-laden foods (those that are not organically grown) and by avoiding too much sugar, refined oil or refined grains. Use natural, cold-pressed oils like coconut or olive oil, since heat oxidizes fats in refined oils. And be sure to limit intake of antibiotic- and hormone-laden foods, such as farm-raised meat or fish.

Regularly getting moderate amounts of exercise. Keep in mind that while being sedentary is definitely not helping you to age any slower, either is overworking yourself. Exhaustion, mental fatigue and burnout also cause the immune system and body more damage.

What is the meaning of life? That is not the hard question. The meaning of life is finding true happiness and joy. The hard question is, “How do you find true happiness and joy?” True happiness and joy is not found in things, winning sporting events, or achieving corporate success, but by putting other people first. Happiness found by owning things, winning sporting events, or achieving corporate success is like eating cotton candy. The taste is sweet, but it does not last long. I find true happiness and joy by being with my wife, Ginny, my family, and friends, being a servant to all, helping people, celebrating life whenever possible. worshiping God, and spreading the Gospel.

Richmond Public Schools Creativity – Teaching Children Creativity, Divergent Thinking, Adaptability, Self-esteem, and How to be Inventive

I am always looking for ways to improve Richmond Public Schools.

Charter Schools and Vouchers may be the best alternative if we cannot improve Richmond Public Schools.

Anna Julia Cooper Episcopal School / Richmond, Virginia is a wonderful example of how a school can successfully combine Judeo Christian values with accountability and consequences. The students are primarily black and come from the RPS school district. The cost is $50 a year to insure parent involvement.

How to Prepare Young People For Jobs That Don’t Even Exist Yet by Andrea Lo

The unemployment rate for teenagers March, 2017 was 13.7 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and a study by MacArthur Foundation codirector Cathy Davidson suggests that 65 percent of today’s grade school students will grow up to work in jobs that have not yet been invented.

How do we as a country prepare the next generation to join the workforce if there are not only too few jobs, but jobs that don’t yet exist?

If we can’t prepare kids for certainty, then we must prepare them for uncertainty. Students need to learn beyond the core subjects of language arts, math, and history. They also need to master skills, like creativity, critical thinking, problem solving, and digital literacy—skills they need in order to be successful in the 21st century.

A couple years ago I started a company called Piggybackr, a website that teaches young people (K-20) how to fundraise for their teams, schools, and communities online—so they can raise more money while also learning 21st century skills.

A mother of a 9-year-old girl recently asked me, “How do we teach our kids to grow up to be innovative?”

The good news is kids increasingly want to grow up to become entrepreneurs and “bosses.” According to a 2011 Gallup Study, 77 percent of students grade 5-12 want to be their own boss, while 45 percent plan to start their own business. The challenge is that schools are not providing classes that equip students to create and innovate their own careers. Topics like personal finance, engineering, and entrepreneurship are missing.

While schools are slow to change, several organizations exist that train and equip young people for the future. Piggybackr is partnered with three organizations that empower young people to become social and business innovators.

One is Ashoka Youth Venture, a nonprofit whose mission is to make everyone a changemaker. The organization supports youth starting their own “ventures,” whether it be a student club or business, and gives them access to workshops, mentors, and tools to help change their communities. They operate in 17 countries and have supported youth-led organizations like GreenShields, a nonprofit that makes school buses more aerodynamic to save gas, and the Food Recovery Network, a student organization that recovers surplus food from college campuses and donates it to people in need.

Another is the BizWorld Foundation, founded in 1997 by venture capitalist Tim Draper to inspire children to be leaders. Bizworld provide programs and curriculum in business, entrepreneurship, and finance for teachers of K-8 students. Students learn how to start their own businesses, manage money, and invest. Eleven-year-old Leona and her sister Briana, both BizWorld alumni, went on to start Team Awesome with their friends Erik and Elise, an organization that explores the art and science of growing plants and food in the air without soil, using foggers.

There’s also Mobilize.org, a social movement that empowers and invests in millennials (those born between 1976 and 1996) to create and implement solutions to social problems. Mobilize.org has trained over 2,200 millennials (22,000 online) by convening, investing, and then mobilizing them in areas like Detroit and South Florida. One project was an annual walk in North Carolina to promote the importance of finishing college, and several others aimed to empower students at community colleges across the nation.

Sir Ken Robertson believes ADHD is not a modern epidemic, but medicating ADHD diagnosed students is. Our children are living in the most intensely stimulating period in the history of mankind. Our children are being besieged with information from all kinds of platforms including computers, cell phones, television, modern music, ear buds, rock concerts, advertisements, movies, etc. It is no wonder our children are getting distracted from boring stuff – at school. It is interesting that the increase in ADHD has grown in parallel with standardized testing. Our children are taking Ritalin, Adderall, and all kinds of dangerous drugs to help them calm down and focus. ADHD increases across the country from west to east. People start losing interest in Oklahoma. They can hardly think straight in Arkansas. By the time they get to Washington, DC they have lost it completely. Ken Robertson believes ADHD is a fictitious epidemic. He believes we are getting our children through education by anesthetizing them. We need to wake our children up to what they have inside themselves. We are educating our children using production line mentality in separate classes by age group using standardized methods with bells to indicate class changes.

Ken Robertson believes we need to change the paradigm and go in the complete opposite direction. In addition to creativity, we need to encourage divergent thinking. Divergent thinking is the ability to see many different answers to a question or solutions to a problem. Most great learning takes place in groups. Visit https://www.thersa.org/

Imagine a second grade classroom that does not have rows of desks and chairs, but instead, children gently bouncing on stability balls and rocking back-and-forth on plastic wobble chairs to help them concentrate. See Wobble chairs, bouncy balls let students wiggle while they work … "Parents and teachers shouldn’t try to keep them still. Let them move while they are doing their work," Julie Schweitzer, director of the UC Davis ADHD Program.

Athletics, exercise, and outdoor activities such as hiking, biking, rock climbing, and kayaking are wonderful outlets for ADHD students. Many students continue these activities after school or even combine them with jobs. I love the story below about Trip Jennings.

Trip Jennings was a good friend of my son, Rob. Both Trip and Rob learned to kayak at early age. Trip started taking video of kayak “gymnastics” at the Williams Dam fish ladder on the James River. Trip was restless in school and often had trouble paying attention in class. At approximately 14, Trip’s father gave him an inexpensive video camera and an Apple computer. Trip started making short kayaking videos. Trip told me he wanted to go to college to learn how to make movies. Thank goodness, I did not tell Trip, this was a crazy idea and a waste of time. Trip attended University of Oregon for two years, learned how to make movies, and went out on his own making short wilderness kayak movies. As time progressed, Trip’s kayaking videos became more and more extreme and started drawing attention at the Banff Film Festival. Trip joined National Geographic and he and another photographer were awarded photographer of the year. Trip now has his own company and owns a $100,000 camera! See Trip’s blog Trip Jennings – National Geographic. You must watch this video to get full appreciation of what Trip has done Kayaking Papua New Guinea – National Geographic Video Trip finished U of O on a terrific scholarship with a major in Spanish. He recently spent 3 days at Nat Geo and will be very preoccupied with an expedition for China to establish their first national park.

Mixed-grade classes can positively affect academic achievement. Most of the research has been carried out in classes in primary school. Various studies and meta-analyses combining the results of studies have consistently shown positive results for multi-age and especially nongraded classes, both of which are formed by choice and have a strong focus on individual learning needs and learning with both older and younger classmates. recent research has shown that older students benefit from “apprenticing” younger students. Learning with others in genuinely collaborative groups is effective and can be organized in any type of class, but mixed-grade teachers have more opportunities to group students flexibly, in different ways at different times. Parents concerned about their child’s mixed-grade class should be reassured that learning occurs individually, in small groups, and as a whole class. Engaged students will learn whether the class is structured by age, grade, ability, or as some form of mixed-grade class. Kr4http://theconversation.com/are-mixed-grade-classes-any-better-or-worse-for-learning-38856

“Education for All and Multigrade Teaching: Challenges and Opportunities,” 2006th Edition by Angela W. Little (Editor) is based on original research and explores the challenges and opportunities in multigrade teaching in Colombia, England, Ghana, Malawi, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Peru, Turks and Caicos Islands, and Vietnam. It raises awareness among policymakers and practitioners in education of the realities of multigrade classes. Moreover, the book explores the implications for teachers, teacher educators, curriculum developers, and educational planners.

NOTE: Approximately 20 percent of the 23,000 Richmond Public School students are disruptive. Multi-grade classes may help if older students control disruptive students that teachers cannot control.

Creative Ways of Showing Love in the Classroom

Elijah House Academy is a wonderful example of how a loving school can change the lives of children. I attended a fundraiser dinner at Elijah House Academy and talked to as many children as I could. An eight grade girl told me her family situation was horrible, but she loved coming to school because the teachers showed her love. This is a wonderful example of how love can change children’s lives even when the family situation is terrible.

There has been little research on how teachers show love in the classroom. This study investigated how five classroom teachers defined love as it pertained to their profession and how they showed love to their students. Through a series of interviews, observations and the collection of artifacts, the research showed that all the participating teachers exhibit love to their students and they speak about the importance of providing this to the children daily in their class. The literature revealed that teachers relate to their students in five areas; caring, enthusiasm, fairness and respect, the student/teacher relationship, and their attitude towards their job. The study revealed that the participant teachers love in many more ways than had been explored previously. Each teacher explained that in order to be an effective instructor, love would need to be present in the classroom and that without it, students would most likely do poorly.

Caring

All the teachers in the study believe caring to be a form of love. In their own teaching they manifested this caring through praise, physical touch, kindness, and understanding

Praise

Throughout the observations and interviews, the teachers talked about praise and gave words of encouragement to their students. During my observations I saw teachers using facial expressions such as smiles and nods of acceptance; they also cheered, and one class even did a special celebratory "happy dance." According to Nel Noddings, these sorts of affirmation contribute to students’ success (Noddings, 2006).

Physical touch.

During the interviews the teachers talked about hugging their students, and I also observed them doing this in the classroom. Many of them have strong feelings about hugging and the importance of physical touch. These responses echo the research of Lisa Goldstein with respect to the importance of touch as an expression of teacherly love (Goldstein, 1997a). Sample comments from interviews. "Um, you know, if it, if it happens that we’re told not to hug kids, then I will not teach anymore." "You know, I give my hugs . . . I give hugs a lot to the kids and I always say, “OK, here’s a high five.” Like they get knuckles, high five, or a hug. But I also think that touch is really important and I think people sometimes do need a hug. So I know I touch the kids a lot on their heads, on their shoulders. . . ." "Positive words, pat on the back, a hug. And I know, you know, now it’s sometimes not politically correct to touch students and different things like that. Kindergarten, my kids need that, you know. They need to be hugged and touched and given high fives. And it’s so important to . . . everyone needs that calming reassurance." "And there’s a little boy and he . . . it was a horrible home situation and his mom had slit her wrist in front of her . . . the boys. He . . . there was a kindergartener and a first grader. And, so, he came from that just traumatic and he came in one day and he’s like, “My legs hurt.” And I said, “Well, let’s . . . you know, “–what’s the matter with your legs?” And he said, “My feet hurt.” And then, “My arms hurt.” And so, I just sat in the rocking chair and held him and he just needed to be held, you know. It’s so sad that . . . yeah." "I think obviously all the research shows, you know, if you’re a newborn and you don’t… you aren’t touched. And so, kids still, you know, they need that pat on the back. They 36 need that, “You know, I’m sad today, my dog died,” or whatever it may be. I have a lot of, “Oh, I don’t get to see my dad for a week.” That’s hard. If I didn’t get to see my dad for a week when I was in kindergarten, that would be very, you know, that’s hard. You need a hug." Examples from classroom observations. Teacher hugs student at snack time. Teacher often puts hand on shoulders or pats hand of students. Teacher helps put one child’s hair into a ponytail. While physical touch of students can be a sensitive issue because of perceptions of impropriety, the teachers in this study showed that hugs, gentle shoulder squeezes, and pats on the back can model a teacher’s love to a struggling student.

Kindness.

The teacher participants constantly mentioned the importance of being kind, warm, and friendly. Many of them sat on the carpet during circle time and all of them walked around helping students that needed assistance with their work. The participants also recounted examples of how their own teachers had modeled these virtues.

Understanding.

The understanding that I observed in the classrooms and heard the teachers talk about included the elements of gentleness and helpfulness. A positive classroom environment was provided by the participants in which empathy was shown to their students. This allowed for children to feel safe and free to make mistakes.

Engaging.

The subjects were not afraid to be silly, to try a wild and crazy science lesson, or to stray from the required curriculum for the day. What they cared about was teaching their students and keeping them challenged. They had few discipline problems because their students were on task and engaged in learning.

Encouraging.

The participants also expressed love by providing daily encouragement to their students, by giving them a cheer or a high five when they had done something right. This was often just what students seemed to need, especially when they were having a bad day or had made a poor choice.

Fairness and Respect

The data revealed that the category of “Fairness and Respect” had four different dimensions, namely, high expectations, responsibility, value, and listening.

Responsibility.

All the teachers in the study encouraged their students to be responsible. Some of them had homework policies; all had classroom management systems in place. No matter what grade they taught, the subjects felt they were showing love to their students by requiring them to take responsibility for themselves and their possessions and thereby preparing them to act responsibly in their adult lives.

Value.

The teachers in the study recounted childhood memories of when their teachers made them feel valued, i.e., special, and of what it felt like to be not valued by their teachers. They believe that teachers who value what their students do or say make them feel loved.

Listening.

The participants expected their students to listen attentively for most of the time they were in class. Teachers asked them questions and solicited their opinions as a means of showing them that they love and value them. These teachers were not afraid to kneel down and put themselves at eye level with particular students so as to listen better to what they had to say. They cared about what their students were saying, and the children felt validated as a result.

Attitude towards job.

The participants expressed love through their attitude to their job in the following ways: by simply enjoying their job, by exhibiting (the requisite) love for children, by being lifelong learners, and by developing a mastery of the subject they teach. During the interviews the teachers talked about the importance of loving their job and the experiences they had had under teachers who either loved or hated their jobs. One mentioned an incident involving a teacher who was so burned out that his students were able to drink a beer in class without his even noticing. This participant described how sad she felt being in that classroom.

Enjoys job.

Each of the five teachers I observed had 10 or more years of experience. They indicated that someone who does not love being with children all day would not be happy as a teacher. This observation accords with the findings of the relevant literature. The participants also talked about their own childhood experiences of having teachers who were burned out, and the ways in which those teachers influenced the participant teachers’ teaching today.

Teacher/Student Relationship

To show love to a student a teacher must have a relationship with him or her. The participants indicated four ways by which they expressed love to their students through relationship: communication, connection, support, and acceptance.

Communication.

The participants regularly communicated with both their students and their students’ families via such means as newsletters, classroom websites, and impromptu conversations during class time. The last of these approaches demonstrate to the students the teachers’ personal knowledge of each of them.

Connection.

All the subjects believed that they should get to know each of their students and their families. They did this by sharing from their own lives, telling stories, meeting students’ families, and looking at photographs students had brought to class. These activities strengthened the bond between the teachers and their students.

Acceptance.

The participants believed in showing love to their students by accepting them regardless of how they presented themselves (i.e., regardless of whether they were loud, shy, smart, clumsy, funny, angry, or whatever) as they entered the classroom.

Conclusion.

Comparison of the five teachers revealed that they were all similar. Their classrooms were well managed and the environments were welcoming. The teachers had taught for many years and it was evident by their responses and actions that they all enjoyed their job. Several of the teachers expressed that they considered loving children to be part ofteaching, although none of them could remember having any specific training on caring or building relationships in their previous education courses. They all agreed that showing affection and making personal connections with students were vital in a child’s success. All the teachers were able to describe a difficult incident they had with a teacher when growing up themselves. They could remember the name of the teacher and exactly how they felt at that given moment. These experiences left negative impressions on all five of the teachers. The participant teachers also had mentors and teachers that they loved. Several said it was from these relationships that they learned to love and care for others.

Five insights can help educators nurture student creativity in ways that enhance academic learning.

Creativity has become a hot topic in education. From President Barack Obama to Amazon’s Jeff Bezos to Newsweek magazine, business leaders, major media outlets, government officials, and education policy makers are increasingly advocating including student creativity in the curriculum. Here are five fundamental insights that can guide and support educators as they endeavor to integrate student creativity into the everyday curriculum.

1. Creativity Takes More Than Originality

What is creativity? People commonly think of creativity as the ability to think outside the box, be imaginative, or come up with original ideas. These are aspects of creativity, but they tell only half the story. Scholars generally agree that creativity involves the combination of originality and task appropriateness (Kaufman & Sternberg, 2007; Plucker, Beghetto, & Dow, 2004). This combination may seem contradictory. How can something be original and at the same time conform to a set of task requirements? And isn’t originality sufficient for something to be judged creative? Why must it also be task appropriate?

A quick example (adapted from Beghetto & Plucker, 2006) may help. Consider a teacher who wants students to express creativity in their science fair projects. Before assigning students to create their own projects, the teacher discusses the scientific conventions and requirements of the project. (For example, each project must pose a hypothesis, gather evidence to test the hypothesis, and explain whether the hypothesis has been supported.) Students are then invited to work within these conventions to create their own original, personally meaningful science fair projects.

One student’s final project simply reproduces a class lab experiment in which students guessed how much acid various brands of soft drinks contained and then measured the degree of acidity in each. Although this project is task appropriate, it is not creative because it does not contain the student’s original ideas. At the other extreme, one student performs an interpretive dance illustrating the biological phenomenon of mitosis; this project is highly original, but it is not creative because it does not fulfill the academic requirements of this particular task. For a student’s project to be considered creative, it would need to incorporate the student’s own ideas while staying within established academic guidelines and the conventions of scientific inquiry.

Teachers who understand that creativity combines both originality and task appropriateness are in a better position to integrate student creativity into the everyday curriculum in ways that complement, rather than compete with, academic learning. For example, during a lesson on ancient Rome, students might create a diary for a person living during this time, with period-accurate details. A biology class might have students brainstorming about the conditions under which a plant might grow best. Or a math teacher might have students explore how many different ways they can solve an algebraic proof.

2. There Are Different Levels of Creativity

Some instances of creativity occur every day (for example, a 4th grader coming up with an idea for a short story). Other instances of creativity redefine the way things are done (for example, smartphones) or even transform history (the computer chip, the Declaration of Independence, the scientific method, electricity, or Billie Holiday’s powerful performance of the anti-racist song "Strange Fruit").

Researchers have drawn a distinction between these two levels of creativity: the contributions made by everyday people (little-c creativity) and the lasting, transformational contributions made by mavericks within a domain (Big-C creativity). In an effort to broaden the concept, we developed a more nuanced, developmental model, which we call the Four C Model of Creativity (Kaufman & Beghetto, 2009). This model describes the following levels of creative expression:

mini-c, or interpretive, creativity (such as a 2nd grade student’s new insight about how to solve a math problem).

little-c, or everyday, creativity (such as a 10th grade social studies class developing an original project that combines learning about a key historical event with gathering local histories from community elders).

Pro-C, or expert, creativity (for example, the idea of the flipped classroom pioneered by teachers Aaron Sams and Jonathan Bergmann).

The Four C Model provides a framework for including creativity in the curriculum and helping students develop their creativity to higher levels.

Consider two elementary students who each write a short story and submit it to a school wide literary contest. One student writes a science fiction story that is based on his own ideas and is personally meaningful to him; although the literary contest judges rate it as ordinary, the story meets the standard criteria of being task appropriate and original as judged by the student himself. Therefore, the story can be considered creative at the mini-c level. Another student writes a science fiction story that the judges rate as highly creative, to which they award first prize. Although this story is not of high enough quality to be published in a science fiction magazine, it displays an unusually high level of originality and quality for an elementary student and may be considered creative at the little-c level.

The first student’s teacher could help him develop his mini-c ideas about science fiction stories into little-c creative contributions by encouraging his interest and helping him develop greater understanding and mastery of storytelling. Similarly, a teacher could work with the second student to help her develop her understanding of the science fiction genre and the domain expertise necessary to move from little-c science fiction stories into published, Pro-C science fiction. This achievement should be understood as a long-term goal: Moving from little-c to Pro-C takes years of deliberate practice (Ericsson, 2006). Few children will reach the Pro-C level of creativity, which is reserved for expert-level authors.

The fourth level of creativity, Big-C, is reserved in science fiction writing for legends like H. G. Wells, Ray Bradbury, or Mary Shelley. This doesn’t mean that Big-C creativity plays no role in the classroom, however. Teachers can include biographies of Big-C creators across various subject areas to illustrate the work, setbacks, and supports involved in becoming a legendary creator. The lives of Marie Curie, Mark Twain, Martin Luther King Jr., and Claude Monet, among others, include stories of persistence and resilience, traits associated with creativity at all levels. Exploring such biographies can capture students’ imagination, raise important questions, and even dispel misconceptions about creativity in particular fields of study. Learning about C. S. Lewis’s struggles with writer’s block, for example, may help a young student realize that such challenges are universal.

3. Context Matters

Some education thinkers have expressed concerns that U.S. schools are stifling student creativity, or causing a "creativity crisis" (Bronson & Merryman, 2010). Although a narrow focus on convergent teaching and learning can suppress creative thinking, the good news is that where there is life, there is creativity. Research has demonstrated that creativity is a robust human trait; students can be protected and bounce back from creativity-stifling school and classroom practices (Beghetto, 2010).

Certain contexts can curtail and suppress creativity, however. In particular, the school and classroom environment often send subtle messages that play an important role in determining whether students will share their mini-c creative insights and have the opportunity to develop their creative competence.

For instance, research shows that creativity can suffer when people are promised rewards for creative work, when learning conditions stress competition and social comparisons, or when individuals are highly aware of being monitored and evaluated by others. Conversely, creativity generally thrives in environments that support personal interest, involvement, enjoyment, and engagement with challenging tasks (Hennessey & Amabile, 2010).

The key insight from this research is that teachers should do their best to minimize features of the environment that can impede creativity (social comparisons, contingent rewards, and so on). Instead, teachers should help students focus on the more intrinsically motivating and personally meaningful aspects of the work by discussing how students might incorporate their personal interests into the tasks and by acknowledging their creativity.

For example, instead of having students choose from a limited set of topics for their science experiments, a teacher might encourage them to plan experiments that examine their specific interests (such as autism, nutrition, or social media). Language arts students might have the option of writing a new scene for an assigned novel instead of writing a compare-and-contrast essay. Such alternate assignments would be equally rigorous but would encourage students to be more invested in the outcome.

4. Creativity Comes at a Cost

Creativity is often associated with fun, fluff, and frills. A quick Google image search on creativity yields a vast array of playful images, including laughing faces, smiling light bulbs, colorful arrays of crayons, and explosive bursts of paint. These images belie the more serious aspects of creativity. Creativity can have benefits that transcend temporary enjoyment. It can produce effective solutions to highly complex societal problems; lead to higher levels of career success; and create intense personal enjoyment, engagement, and meaning in life (Kaufman, 2009).

But the benefits come with a cost; creativity requires work, effort, and risk. Many years of painstaking effort are needed to develop the expertise to make creative contributions that go beyond the everyday level. Moreover, even everyday creativity takes effort, subject-matter understanding, the ability to put a new spin on the task at hand, and the willingness to share one’s creative expression with others—risking rejection, ridicule, or worse.

When a young student shares a new and personally meaningful perspective on how to solve a math problem, she risks having her idea dismissed or misunderstood by her teacher. A student who volunteers to read a story in front of the class is taking the chance of being laughed at by his peers. It does not take many such incidents for a student to learn that it’s not worth the effort and risk to share personal ideas—it’s much easier to provide the answers that teachers and peers expect.

Part of encouraging creativity, therefore, includes helping students become aware of the potential costs and benefits associated with creative expression. When students understand both the potential benefits and potential costs of creativity, they will be in a position to determine whether the risk is worth it.

5. There’s a Time and a Place for Creativity

Given all the talk about nurturing creativity, teachers may feel that creativity should be encouraged and expressed at all times. But would you want a creative dentist or cab driver? It depends. We don’t want a dentist trying a new tooth extraction procedure during a routine cleaning or a cab driver exploring a new route during a typical ride from the hotel to the airport. In such cases, we prefer that they conform to what is expected. However, if a tooth unexpectedly shatters during a cleaning, we want that dentist to be creative enough to improvise a way to fix it. Similarly, if we are running late for an important flight and the interstate traffic comes to a screeching halt, we might very well appreciate our cabbie’s creative exploration of an alternate route.

Accomplished creators know when to be creative. Therefore, it’s important for teachers to teach (and model) how to read a situation and determine whether and how to express one’s creative ideas, insights, and behaviors. In other words, students need to develop creative metacognition—a combination of creative self-knowledge (knowing one’s own creative strengths and limitations, both within a domain and as a general trait) and contextual knowledge (knowing when, where, how, and why to be creative) (Kaufman & Beghetto, in press).

Educators can help students develop their creative metacognition by providing them with informative feedback on their own creative strengths and limitations. Feedback should follow the Goldilocks Principle (Beghetto & Kaufman, 2007)—it should be neither too harsh (stifling students’ motivation) nor too mild (failing to acknowledge real-world standards). Teachers should provide honest feedback that strikes the just-right balance between challenging students and supporting them as they develop their creative competence.

Consider, for example, a student who is assigned to write a historical account of an event during the past decade that had an impact on the local community. The student takes a novel approach to this assignment, combining secondary sources (such as news accounts) and imaginary primary sources ("ghosts of the past" who represent various generational perspectives).

To provide balanced feedback, the teacher might acknowledge the originality and insightfulness of the student’s attempt to present multiple generational perspectives of the event. The teacher might then challenge the student to replace the fictional sources with actual primary sources by locating real community members who represent different generations, interviewing them, and incorporating their perspectives into the final paper.

Realizing the Benefits

As parents, educators, and creativity researchers, we are encouraged by the increased attention being paid to creativity and the recognition that it has a role to play in schools and classrooms. It’s essential, however, that education leaders develop a thorough understanding of creativity and that they take the time and care necessary to ensure that the benefits of creativity are realized in schools and classrooms.

Ronald A. Beghetto is associate dean for academic affairs and associate professor of education studies, College of Education, University of Oregon at Eugene. <a href="mailto:jkaufman is professor and director of the Learning Research Institute, California State University at San Bernardino.

For many students, self-confidence is a natural personality trait: You either have it or you don’t.

Confident learners tend to speak more and know how to get their point across. For those students who aren’t so confident, learning new material can feel like swimming upstream. These students are always questioning their abilities and tend to shy away from answering questions.

Confidence can also be taught via some creative teaching strategies. We as teachers have a powerful influence on our students, and we can help them feel confident and proud of themselves and their accomplishments. We can help them feel secure enough that they are willing and able to learn new material.

1. Offer praise and acknowledge students’ accomplishments, both in private and in front of their classmates. Always start with a positive statement, and then you can add on by referring to what they need to work on.

2. Try not to correct every single thing the student says wrong. Do not interrupt the student when they are talking to correct them — this will harm their confidence, not boost it.

We take a closer look at problem students, and how you can use classroom…

3. Set attainable goals from the start of the year. This is a surefire way for students to see how much they have grown.

4. Give students the opportunity to choose what they learn — this will help them build their self-worth. Try a learning menu or choice board where students get to choose which activities they want to learn about.

5. Be sure to always express a positive attitude to all of your students. This will show them that you are on their side, and that they are worth your attention.

6. Create opportunities for students to succeed by building on their strengths. If a student knows a lot of information about something, ask them to tell you about it. “I am unfamiliar with how the new gaming system works, can you please explain it to me?” Asking students for their help is a great confidence boost to their ego.

7. Encourage students to do better than they did before. For example, if Brady got a B on his science test, encourage him to get an A this time. It’s important for students to compete against themselves not their classmates.

8. Keep a log of how well all students are doing, and what they are good at and what they need to work on. This careful monitoring will help you catch problems as they arise.

Classroom Activities to Build Self-Confidence

To help students recognize and appreciate their growth try a few of these activities.

Elementary Students

Have students draw or paste a picture of themselves on the middle of a piece of paper. Ask students to write or draw all of the things that they like about themselves around their picture. Encourage them to add to the picture every time they think of something new they like about themselves.

Challenge students to keep track of all of the things that they can do and add to the list throughout the school year (i.e. How high you can count?, How far can you jump?).

Middle School Students

Challenge students to choose one thing that they would like to get better at and give them a timeframe to accomplish this task. (i.e. one week to get an A on a math quiz, two weeks to be able to do learn a magic trick, etc.) Remind students that they are in competition with themselves, not their peers.

Have students estimate how long it will take them to complete a task. Students who think it will take them an hour to complete their homework are less inclined to actually do their homework. Once they figure out that a shorter time commitment is required they will be more apt (and confident) to do their work.

High School Students

Help students see that there is a connection between how hard you work and how well you succeed. Oftentimes, less-persistent high school students think that good students are smarter than them. Open up a discussion in the classroom and talk about how long it took the students who got a good grade on the last exam to study. Sometimes, all it takes is a quick conversation for students to really grasp that everyone has to work hard in order to succeed.

Offer students time to reflect after each lesson. Ask students what they think went right and what they think caused them stress. Have students share their responses with the class. This is a great way for students to see how their peers overcome their problems, which in turn will help them with their own self-confidence.

This article surveys educational and psychological studies to examine the benefits for children of studying and playing chess. These show that chess can
– Raise intelligence quotient (IQ) scores
– Strengthen problem solving skills, teaching how to make difficult and abstract decisions independently
– Enhance reading, memory, language, and mathematical abilities
– Foster critical, creative, and original thinking
– Provide practice at making accurate and fast decisions under time pressure, a skill that can help improve exam scores at school
– Teach how to think logically and efficiently, learning to select the ‘best’ choice from a large number of options
– Challenge gifted children while potentially helping underachieving gifted students learn how to study and strive for excellence
– Demonstrate the importance of flexible planning, concentration, and the consequences of decisions
– Reach boys and girls regardless of their natural abilities or socio-economic backgrounds

Just think of the smiles on your kids’ faces when you read them a great story, or how their eyes light up when you show them tiny plants buds just peeking through the soil. The great thing about teaching young […]

Just think of the smiles on your kids’ faces when you read them a great story, or how their eyes light up when you show them tiny plants buds just peeking through the soil. The great thing about teaching young children is that they have an innate desire to know more about the world. Sadly, this innate love of learning is often squelched by the time kids hit elementary school, crushed by ineffective academic standards and incorrectly implied curriculum that take the delight out of learning.

But it doesn’t have to be this way! That’s why we’ve worked with the early-learning experts at VINCI Education to inspire kids to love learning. As a teacher, you can make a big impact on your students’ future love of learning by simply allowing them to learn in a way that’s not only educational but also fun. Here are a few ideas to help you do just that:

Teach them to be critical thinkers.The adrenaline rush from solving a tough puzzle leads kids to want to do it again and again—and that creates life-long learners and problem-solvers.

Meet kids where they are.Some kids are kinesthetic learners and need activity to thrive.Others love games.Still others love to get wrapped into a good book.Work hard to show your kids that you value their unique interests and learning styles.

Facilitate learning with technology.Kids love technology—and one of the best ways to get kids excited about learning is to supplement your spoken curriculum with technology.Try letting kids play a related game on a tablet after you teach math or reward good behavior with technology time.

Listen to your kids.Be willing to spend time talking to your kids and finding out what interests them so that you can adjust learning to fit.

Show your kids that you love to play and learn.Bring a copy of your favorite book to school and let your kids catch you reading it.Or, divert from the art lesson to demonstrate your own love of painting to the kids. Show your talent with sand castle or getting a toy sunk in the water… Participate and show your enjoyment in playing

Recognize achievements.If you notice a kid has mastered a particular skill or is excelling on a certain game, point out his or her achievement or give that student a sticker or a smiley face.Even little acknowledgements can serve as major motivation.

Involve the entire village.Send home fun enrichment activities for your early learners to do at home.Likewise, communicate what you are doing with parents and ask them to send you ideas, books, and activity suggestions.

Mix it up.Try blended learning one day and a nature hike the next in order to let kids know that there are lots of ways to learn and grow.

Always make a summary.It seems simple, but when you make a short summary at the end of play, you help kids retain the learning that they gained. Take a few minutes to recall what was played and learned and their retention will increase.

I have always wondered about the truth of the magnitude of climate change due to increases of man-made greenhouse gases. I remember my water chemistry professor, Dr. Charles O’Melia, telling us in 1974 that oceans contain about 50 times more CO 2 than the atmosphere (approximately 93 percent of the CO 2 is found in the oceans http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/Bi-Ca/Carbon-Dioxide-in-the-Ocean-and-Atmosphere.html ). For this reason, he doubted the magnitude of climate change. I read the highly technical, “Climate Change: The Facts,” – April 21, 2015. In summary, we need more credible scientific research to confirm the magnitude of climate change before taking drastic measures to reduce man made greenhouse gas emissions.

Methane emissions have approximately 15 to 30 times greater effect on climate change than CO2 emissions depending on whether or not water vapor is taken into account. Methane emissions from human sources including agribusiness, represent up to approximately one third of the total warming effect of all greenhouse gases produced by man. Few if any government studies address the danger of methane emissions from agribusiness. Methane emissions from agribusiness (primarily from beef and dairy cattle), represent a large percentage of greenhouse gases produced by man. Facts and Sources – COWSPIRACY: The Sustainability Secret explains why few if any government studies have addressed methane emissions from dairy cattle or beef cattle feedlots. No politician or government official dares address methane emissions or water usage (1,800 gallons per pound of beef) from beef cattle feedlots or the dairy industry. See The Water Footprint of Food – GRACE Communications Foundation.

I urge those that believe the horrors and degree of temperature change resulting from man made greenhouse gasses, to read, “Climate Change: The Facts,” – April 21, 2015 and the book from the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), titled Why Scientists Disagree about Global Warming, by Craig Idso, Robert M. Carter (1942-2016), S. Fred Singer – November 30, 2015. Download the PDF We need more credible scientific research before changing government policy favoring alternate energy projects or instigating cap and trade regulations to control CO2 emissions.

The book from the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), titled Why Scientists Disagree about Global Warming, by Craig Idso, Robert M. Carter (1942-2016), S. Fred Singer was released on November 30, 2015. Download the PDFWhy Scientists Disagree, explains why the claim of “scientific consensus” on the causes and consequences of climate change is without merit. The authors comprehensively and specifically rebut the surveys and studies used to support claims of a consensus. They then summarize evidence showing disagreement, identify four reasons why scientists disagree about global warming, and then provide a detailed survey of the physical science of global warming based on the authors’ previous work.

Why Scientists Disagree was produced by NIPCC, an international panel of nongovernment scientists and scholars who came together to present a comprehensive, authoritative, and realistic assessment of the science and economics of global warming. Reports of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warn of a dangerous human effect on climate, NIPCC concludes the human effect is likely to be small relative to natural variability, and whatever small warming is likely to occur will produce benefits as well as costs. NIPCC is sponsored by three nonprofit organizations: the Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change, the Science and Environmental Policy Project (SEPP), and The Heartland Institute. http://climatechangereconsidered.org/ “Climate Change: The Facts,” – April 21, 2015 by by Dr John Abbot (Author), Dr Robert M. Carter ~ Rupert Darwall ~ James Delingpole (Author), & 10 morewas published by Stockade Books and The Institute of Public Affairs.”Climate Change: The Facts,” features 22 essays on the science, politics and economics of the climate change debate. The book features the world’s leading experts and commentators on climate change. Highlights of“Climate Change: The Facts,” include: Ian Plimer draws on the geological record to dismiss the possibility that human emissions of carbon dioxide will lead to catastrophic consequences for the planet. Patrick Michaels demonstrates the growing chasm between the predictions of the IPCC and the real world temperature results. Richard Lindzen shows the climate is less sensitive to increases in greenhouse gases than previously thought and argues that a warmer world would have a similar weather variability to today. Willie Soon discusses the often unremarked role of the sun in climate variability. Robert Carter explains why the natural variability of the climate is far greater than any human component. John Abbot and Jennifer Marohasy demonstrate how little success climate models have in predicting important information such as rainfall.

Nigel Lawson warns of the dire economic consequences of abandoning the use of fossil fuels. Alan Moran compares the considerable costs of taking action compared to the relatively minor potential benefits of doing so. James Delingpole looks at the academic qualifications of the leading proponents of catastrophic climate change and finds many lack the credentials of so-called ‘skeptics’. Garth Paltridge says science itself will be damaged by the failure of climate forecasts to eventuate. Jo Nova chronicles the extraordinary sums of public money awarded to climate change activists, in contrast to those who question their alarmist warnings. Kesten Green and Scott Armstrong compare climate change alarmism to previous scares raised over the past 200 years. Rupert Darwall explains why an international, legally binding climate agreement has extremely minimal chances of success. Ross McKitrick reviews the ‘hockey stick’ controversy and what it reveals about the state of climate science.

Donna Laframboise explains how activists have taken charge of the IPCC. Mark Steyn recounts the embarrassing ‘Ship of Fools’ expedition to Antarctica. Christopher Essex argues the climate system is far more complex than it has been presented and there is much that we still don’t know. Bernie Lewin examines how climate change science came to bepoliticized. Stewart Franks lists all the unexpected developments in climate science that were not foreseen. Anthony Watts highlights the failure of the world to warm over the past 18 years, contrary to the predictions of the IPCC. Andrew Bolt reviews the litany of failed forecasts by climate change activists.

According to this book we live in a cold period with very low CO2 atmospheric concentration. Geology indicates CO2 atmospheric concentration was up to 1000 times higher then now, during ice ages.

After researching climate change, I believe the horrors and degree of temperature change resulting from man made greenhouse gasses are greatly exaggerated by politicians seeking reelection and a trillion dollar alternate energy industry. There may be more benefits than costs of global warming and increased CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere. The benefits would be a greener earth from increased plant growth and less severe winters. I believe the IPCC – Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Changeis doing a great disservice to mankind by using inaccurate data and ignoring apposing scientific research to exaggerate the horrors and degree of temperature change resulting from man made greenhouse gasses. Australia is a good example of what happens when a country depends on windmills and solar collectors to replace sources of electricity that generate CO2 emissions. Solar collectors do not generate electricity at night and there is usually a lack of wind for windmills during winter and summer months when electricity is in high demand. During winter and summer months Australia must purchase high cost electricity from fossil fuel and nuclear plants. Australia’s focus on alternative energy has resulted in a 50 to 100 percent increase in the cost of electricity.

I worked for a company as an environmental engineer (PE) that prepared and certified stack emission test reports submitted to EPA. This company co-burned coal and hazardous waste to produce popcorn like, light weight aggregate from shale and slate. We found coal to be a very “dirty” fuel because it contained high levels of arsenic and cadmium. We used coal from Powder Mountain Ridge in Colorado to meet emission standards because East Coast anthracite coal had arsenic concentrations (over 3.5 mg/kg). We had bag houses that could remove 4 nines 5 (99.995%) of arsenic and cadmium in stack emissions. What I found more alarming was the volatile mercury concentration in stack emissions resulting from burning coal. We installed a lime scrubber followed by a high pressure water scrubber prior to bag houses to try to remove volatile mercury in stack emissions. No matter how hard we tried, we could only remove 50% of volatile mercury in stack emissions. This is a major problem with coal-fired power plants. See Mercury in US Coal – USGS. In the United States we are fortunate that natural gas fired power plants have replaced coal, because natural gas provides a cheaper (and much cleaner) fuel source than coal or oil. Some years ago, the State of Virginia decided to find out what the natural background mercury concentration in fish should be. The state decided to take fish samples from Dragon Run (Dragon Run watershed – Wikipedia), the main tributary of the Piankatank River. No industry is located in the Dragon Run or Piankatank River basin. For this reason, Dragon Run is considered a pristine watershed. All fish samples came back over the allowable mercury limit for edible fish. The state finally concluded that mercury in Dragon Run came from atmospheric pollution. Coal fired power plants would be the logical source. Coal still remains the cheapest energy source for developing nations.

Life as a quadriplegic in a wheelchair is difficult, both physically and emotionally. I am constantly trying to find purpose and meaning in life. Encouraging and helping others gives me purpose for living. Glorifying God by trying to be a Christian man gives my life meaning.

Many of my readers do not believe there is a God. My questions to them are, are you a cosmic accident as the result of the big bang? Why are you alive? Does your life matter? What is life’s purpose? Does good and evil exist? If good and evil exist, then there must be a moral law, and if there is a moral law, there must be a moral law giver. If there is no God, there is no moral law, no sin, and we along with our nation will continue to decline.

Life without purpose is not worth living. Belief in God and Bible study has given me meaning and purpose in life. After attending a Randy Clark healing weekend retreat, I believe God exists and performs healing and miracles. I believe the Bible is true. For me, life is all about God and knowing God. I believe this life is a crucible that builds character and prepares us to live eternally in heaven.

I believe our purpose on earth is to love God and love our fellow man.

Luke 10:27 New International Version (NIV)

27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’[a]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b]”

In the first 62 years of my life I was an engineer. I am now learning about the spirit world and finding that both worlds appear real. You might think I have lost it, but the spirit world enables us to do much more then we can ever imagine in the practical world. The practical world envisions fictitious wormholes that will enable us to travel through space. In the spirit world, we see in the spirit and travel in the spirit. There are no barriers in the spirit world. In the Bible, Ezekiel, Daniel, and John write about traveling in the spirit. The kingdom of darkness reigns on earth. Unclean spirits (demons) are very real and cause pain and disease in this world. Unclean spirits have confronted me on numerous occasions, and I can assure you they are real! Satan and unclean spirits have no hold on us unless we give them permission. When unclean spirits confront you, commanded them to leave in the name of Jesus, and they will leave! In the Bible, Jesus demonstrated authority to cast out demons and unclean spirits. Jesus told us that if we believe in Him, we will be able to do much greater works than He did.

John 14:12-14 New International Version (NIV)

12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

I try to continually be optimistic, even in the face of difficulty and “temporary” failure. I find being optimistic and happy is a choice that comes from within. I have had to accept myself as a quadriplegic in a wheelchair to be happy. I find happiness by doing things for others, connecting with people, riding my trike, keeping up with the world around us, bouncing back from adversity, being part of something bigger than myself, and living life as a minimalist, without stuff. He who needs nothing is rich.

“Life is 10 percent of what happens to us and 90 percent how we react to it.” Charles Swindoll.

The story below is another example of why I believe there is a God, a Heaven, and a Hell.

A Muslim told me a very personal story. The story begins on a snowy road in northern Michigan when his car spun out of control and into the lane of an oncoming tractor-trailer. Just before the front end collision he prayed, “God help me,”. He observed the collision in slow motion. He saw the tractor-trailer hit the front end of his car. He saw the front end of the car slowly collapse. He saw the windshield slowly break. He saw the dashboard slowly come toward him. He knew he was dead when the dashboard crushed his chest. He saw a bright light unlike any light he had ever seen. He felt energy come back into his body. An ambulance picked him up and carried him to the hospital. He was in a coma for four hours, and his family surrounded him. He came out of his coma, and walked out of the hospital that evening with a cut blow his lip and below his left ear. The doctor asked him, “What happened?” He told the doctor he was between Earth and Heaven. He asked God if he could come back and take care of his two daughters and his mother. He said, ”I know there is a God, and I know there is a Heaven, and I know there is a Hell, And, I know this is not the real world.” He accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior of his life, and was baptized. This event changed his life to a life of service helping people. He continues to be both Muslim and Christian, and he knows who God is. His family is Muslim.

Psalm 139:7-12 New International Version (NIV)

7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I pray you would have spiritual fullness in Christ to know your purpose in life and to do the will of God. I thank God through Jesus Christ for you who step out in faith with courage to do the will of God and spread the gospel in power with healing and miracles. May the love and peace of Christ rule in your heart.

I hope all of you had a Merry Christmas and will have a Happy New Year! If you are interested in the birth of Jesus, the Star of Bethlehem, and the story of the Wisemen, see the attachment. I find it interesting that the astrological events around the time of Jesus’ birth can be reproduced by planetariums and are recorded on clay tablets found in the Middle East.

A friend of mine recently died from drug resistant sepsis as a result of a urinary tract infection (UTI). Another friend of mine provided the following recipe to clear a UTI without continually using antibiotics and creating a drug resistant UTI:

1. At first awareness of infection take three capsules each of Super Cranactin and Clear Tract. It is best to take this dose on an empty stomach, but if you have already eaten, take it anyway.

2. Take two capsules of each every hour thereafter until the infection is gone.

Drink plenty of water with each dose. If the infection persists, you may need to fast (not eat) while taking the supplements. Avoid all sugary foods, because sugar feeds bad bacteria and cancer cells and stresses the body in such a way that it can not fight viruses well. The less sugar you eat, the healthier you will become overall. Do not replace sugar with artificial sweeteners though, because they are worse for us than sugar is. Artificial sweeteners in all Diet sodas and Diet products are extremely bad for our nervous systems and eyes. I won’t bore you with the chemistry.

Note: This is not a prescription, and I am not providing medical advise. I am not a physician. The above supplements are merely concentrated food, not a drug. You are responsible for your health. Taking the above number of supplements is merely my recipe for flushing out a urinary tract infection, and I’ve used it many times successfully. Doctors are not taught about these natural cures and they are not likely to prescribe them because they are afraid of legal action. If you follow the above recipe, you are taking responsibility for your own well being, rather than putting it on your doctor or me.

I followed this recipe for 5 hours after I observed sediment in my urine from catheterization. Following this procedure, my urine became clear without sediment during subsequent catheterizations and I was not aware of any adverse reactions from the cranberry or D-mannose capsules. This procedure is primarily effective for preventing and treating Escherichia coli (E. coli) UTI’s, which cause approximately 85% of all UTIs.

Before using cranberry:

Some medical conditions may interact with cranberry. Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you have any medical conditions, especially if any of the following apply to you:

if you are pregnant, planning to become pregnant, or are breast-feeding

if you are taking any prescription or nonprescription medicine, herbal preparation, or dietary supplement

if you have allergies to medicines, foods, or other substances

if you have diabetes or a history of kidney stones

Some MEDICINES MAY INTERACT with cranberry. Tell your health care provider if you are taking any other medicines, especially any of the following:

Warfarin because side effects such as bleeding may be increased by cranberry

D-Mannose is by far the most effective supplement for both treatment and prevention of UTIs. Similar to glucose in structure, D-mannose is a naturally occurring sugar that is found in a number of fruits, including apples, blueberries, and cranberries. (3) This sugar is the reason that cranberry juice has been commonly recommended as a UTI treatment, though it is far easier to get the recommended dosage from a supplement. D-mannose is effective because it attaches to E. coli bacteria, causing them to stick to each other and preventing them from sticking to the walls of the urinary tract. (4) The bacteria can then easily be eliminated from the body during urination.

D-mannose, even in large quantities, does not cause any adverse side effects, and cannot be metabolized the way other sugars can, meaning this supplement is safe for diabetics and others who are avoiding sugar for any reason. This treatment is also safe for children and the elderly. Symptom relief can be seen as quickly as the following day, and most symptoms are generally resolved after 48 hours of treatment. Additionally, taking D-mannose during a time where you feel you are most prone to UTIs, such as prior to intercourse or during prolonged antibiotic treatment, can help prevent a UTI from ever developing in the first place. This is especially helpful for those who are prone to chronic UTIs and want to be able to engage in normal life activities without fear of infection. https://chriskresser.com/treat-and-prevent-utis-without-drugs/

I temporarily canceled my Facebook page because I got hacked. I believe I invited too many people that I did not know that were “friends.” I changed my password and limited access to my computer only.

Thomas D. Edison quote, “I have not failed. I just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” The story about Thomas Edison is amazing and applies to our youth today. First of all, do not fear failure, but continue until you succeed. Secondly, positive attitude of parents is critical to success of our children.

Whether or not there was a letter, Thomas Edison’s inventions changed the world. Thomas Edison’s mother was a positive person and took a negative and made Thomas Edison a great inventor who was not afraid of failure.

This reminds me of a leadership lecture by Dick Tarrant. Dick Tarrant was the head men’s basketball coach at the University of Richmond[1] from 1981 through 1993. Tarrant, the winningest coach in Richmond history by both victories and winning percentage, led the Spiders to five NCAA Tournament and four NIT berths in his twelve seasons as head coach—the first postseason appearances in school history.[2]

Dick Tarrant said the team was terrible when he started coaching at University of Richmond. He said the first thing he did was to tell the players what they were doing wrong. He said, believe it or not, the team got worse! He figured this is not working so he changed direction and told the players what they were doing correctly. The players knew what they were doing wrong. Tarrant’s new approach made Tarrant the winningest basketball coach in Richmond history.

This is a lesson for raising children as well as for married couples. Become a cheerleader for your spouse and children. Emphasize what they are doing correctly.

Conversely, a father (or mother) may “curse” a son (or daughter) by telling him (her), he (she) is no good and will never amount to anything. Severe family conflicts can result in unpleasant words being pronounced against a family member or members resulting in bitterness between family members. Severe family conflicts without any reconciliation result in distressing experiences among those not willing to forgive. The trauma that results may be spiritual, social, physical, material or any combination. Family politics can make or break the course of the lives of children. “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ‘Honor your father and mother’–which is the first commandment with a promise—‘that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth,’” Ephesians 6:1-3. Notice that the commandment has a promise—“that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” The promise is hindered or goes unfulfilled when serious conflicts come in between the parent(s) and a child.

The passage that follows talks about parents’ input to their children. “Fathers, do not exasperate (a feeling of intense irritation or annoyance) your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord,” Ephesians 6:4. Parents have immense biblical authority to influence the destiny of their children for better or for worse. Their words are not mere words. They carry with them the power to bless or to curse -socially, spiritually, materially or physically. Children do not have this privilege over their parents. Their words are mere words. Their privilege lies in continuing the family lineage.

Any one in courtship with someone who has scores to settle with parents is better off waiting and praying for the conflict to be settled before getting into a marriage. Without the conflict settled you could have a rough road ahead. Consolidating such areas is an asset for a strong foundation against life’s storms. Once God has joined you together. Let no man or woman pull you apart because of some spiritual influence God gave them which they’re misusing to curse instead of bless. But devote much prayer to it (and occasional fasting) so that reconciliation, healing and approval wins the day. INTRODUCTION: Breaking Curses, Including Breaking Generational Curses

Lastly, I am concerned about President elect Donald Trump’s choice of campaign adviser David Friedman, a bankruptcy lawyer with hardline views on Israel, to serve as US ambassador to Israel. Mr. Friedman has no diplomatic experience and supports building new settlements on the West Bank, which Washington has long condemned as illegitimate and an obstacle to peace. Mr. Friedman has made clear his disdain for those American Jews who support a two-state solution for the Israelis and the Palestinians. President-elect Trump expressed his commitment to further enhancing the U.S.-Israel relationship and ensuring there will be extraordinary strategic, technological, military and intelligence cooperation between the two countries.” Daniel Levy, a left-leaning former Israeli peace negotiator, said that in naming an ambassador with the hard-line views of Mr. Friedman, Mr. Trump could end up undercutting the security of Israel and the United States and condemn “the Palestinians to further disenfranchisement and dispossession.” Trump Chooses Hard-Liner as Ambassador to Israel – The New York … I believe this will anger not only Palestinians but radical Islam.

I am also concerned about President elect Donald Trump’s selection of anti-China Peter Navarro, to lead a new White House office, the National Trade Council, to oversee American trade and industrial policy. We will have to wait to see if the new trade and regulatory posts will be vested with real power to eliminate free trade or whether they are symbolic appointments. On trade, Mr. Trump has promised to withdraw the U.S.’s pledge to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade agreement with Japan and other Pacific Rim nations that Congress has yet to ratify, and he has called for the U.S. to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico. Donald Trump’s New Appointments Shake Up Trade, Regulation – WSJ

A wide range of economists have warned that curtailing trade with China would damage the American economy, forcing consumers to pay higher prices for goods and services. Experts on manufacturing also doubt that the government can significantly increase factory employment, noting that mechanization is the major reason fewer people are working in factories. Mr. Navarro’s appointment reinforces a basic division among Mr. Trump’s economic advisers. The people he has chosen to oversee trade policy, Mr. Navarro and Wilbur Ross, another billionaire investor, both favor increased trade restrictions. But Mr. Trump’s broader circle of advisers is dominated by proponents of free trade, including Mr. Icahn; Gary D. Cohn, the president of Goldman Sachs, who will lead the National Economic Council; Rex W. Tillerson, the chief executive of Exxon Mobil, who was tapped for secretary of state; and Gov. Terry Branstad of Iowa, Mr. Trump’s choice for ambassador to China. Mr. Trump is also considering the appointment of Larry Kudlow, a strong proponent of trade, to lead his Council of Economic Advisers. Trump Taps Peter Navarro, Vocal Critic of China, for New Trade Post … NY Times http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/21/us/politics/peter-navarro-carl-icahn-trump-china-trade.html I am a proponent of free trade because this encourages suppliers to furnish the best product at the lowest cost resulting in raising the standard of living for the entire world.

Beautiful story…. makes you understand that things happen for a reason

The brand new pastor and his wife, newly assigned
to their first ministry, to reopen a church
in suburban Brooklyn , arrived in early October
excited about their opportunities. When they saw
their church, it was very run down and needed
much work. They set a goal to have everything
done in time to have their first service
on Christmas Eve.

They worked hard, repairing pews, plastering walls,
painting, etc, and on December 18
were ahead of schedule and just about finished.

On December 19 a terrible tempest – a driving
rainstorm hit the area and lasted for two days.

On the 21st, the pastor went over to the church.
His heart sank when he saw that the roof had
leaked, causing a large area of plaster about
20 feet by 8 feet to fall off the front wall
of thesanctuary just behind the pulpit,
beginning about head high.

The pastor cleaned up the mess on the floor,
and not knowing what else to do but postpone
the Christmas Eve service, headed home.
On the way he noticed that a local business was
having a flea market type sale for charity, so he
stopped in. One of the items was a beautiful,
handmade, ivory colored, crocheted tablecloth
with exquisite work, fine colors and a Cross
embroidered right in the center. It was just
the right size to cover the hole in the front
wall. He bought it and headed back to the church.

By this time it had started to snow. An older
woman running from the opposite direction was
trying to catch the bus. She missed it. The pastor
invited her to wait in the warm church for
the next bus 45 minutes later.

She sat in a pew and paid no attention to the pastor
while he got a ladder, hangers, etc., to put
up the tablecloth as a wall tapestry. The pastor
could hardly believe how beautiful it looked and
it covered up the entire problem area.

Then he noticed the woman walking down the center
aisle. Her face was like a sheet. "Pastor,"
she asked, "where did you get that tablecloth?"
The pastor explained. The woman asked him to check
the lower right corner to see if the initials, EBG were crocheted into
it there. They were. These were the initials of the woman, and she had
made this tablecloth 35 years before, in Austria .

The woman could hardly believe it as the pastor
told how he had just gotten "The Tablecloth". The
woman explained that before the war she and
her husband were well-to-do people in Austria .

When the Nazis came, she was forced to leave.
Her husband was going to follow her the next week.
He was captured, sent to prison and never saw her
husband or her home again.

The pastor wanted to give her the tablecloth;
but she made the pastor keep it for the church..
The pastor insisted on driving her home. That
was the least he could do. She lived on the other
side of Staten Island and was only in Brooklyn
for the day for a housecleaning job.

What a wonderful service they had on Christmas
Eve. The church was almost full. The music and the
spirit were great. At the end of the service, the
pastor and his wife greeted everyone at the door
and many said that they would return.

One older man, whom the pastor recognized
from the neighborhood continued to sit in one of the
pews and stare, and the pastor wondered why he
wasn’t leaving.

The man asked him where he got the tablecloth on
the front wall because it was identical to one
that his wife had made years ago when
they lived in Austria before the war and how
could there be two tablecloths so much alike?

He told the pastor how the Nazis came, how he
forced his wife to flee for her safety and he was
supposed to follow her, but he was arrested and
put in a prison. He never saw his wife or his home
again all the 35 years between.

The pastor asked him if he would allow him to
take him for a little ride. They drove to Staten
Island and to the same house where the pastor
had taken the woman three days earlier.

He helped the man climb the three flights of
stairs to the woman’s apartment, knocked on
the door and he saw the greatest Christmas
reunion he could ever imagine.

True Story – submitted by Pastor Rob Reid
who says God does work in mysterious ways.

Healing and Miracles were the centerpiece of Jesus’ ministry, and I believe are the centerpiece for effectively preaching the Gospel today. I believe we should follow Jesus’ example in Matthew 4:23 to be good disciples and be in the Will of God.

Matthew 4:23 New International Version (NIV) Jesus Heals the Sick

23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.

I believe Jesus when He told us we could do greater miracles than He did if we believe in Him.

John 14:12-14 New International Version (NIV)

12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

When we pray the Lord’s prayer, we pray, ”Your kingdom come Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. See Matthew 6:9–10 (NIV).

The Will of God is that there is no sickness in heaven or on the earth. It is God’s will that we heal the sick and make disciples of all the nations. Healing and miracles should be the centerpiece of our spreading the gospel and making disciples of all the nations.

As long as we start off with little faith, the size of a mustard seed, with God’s help, we can grow our little faith into great faith that can move mountains. With no faith, we can do nothing.

Matthew 17:20 New International Version (NIV)

20 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

We need to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit for our little mustard seed of faith to grow. Jesus grows his disciple’s faith by example and by sending them out. We need to follow Jesus’ example and step out with courage to grow our little faith into great faith.

Luke 10:1-4 and 17 New International Version (NIV) Jesus Sends Out the Seventy-Two

10 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two[a] others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. 2 He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. 3 Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. 4 Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.

17 The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”

Do not believe the liberals, who do not believe in healing and miracles, or the cessationalists, who believe that healing and miracles ceased with the death of the 12 apostles.